


the care and keeping of your ranger kid

by mcmeekin



Category: Power Rangers
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Babysitting, Background Relationships, Gen, Growing Up, Swearing, dubious parenting, ridiculous fic masquerading as serious fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23661967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcmeekin/pseuds/mcmeekin
Summary: In terms of bad decisions, Cassie doesn’t think this is the worst one Zhane’s ever made. Which might say more about how she ranks Zhane’s decisions than anything else. But it’s probably Top Three material. Well… maybe second place. She’ll give it second.(Zhane decides to raise a baby while the Power Rangers as an organization tries to create SPD. One goes better than the other.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. 2005

**Author's Note:**

> i started writing this one thousand years ago after that samurai christmas special brought the power and beauty of "powerrangersmail.net" into our lives. yes, everything with me is about samurai, somehow.
> 
> general disclaimer that i'm a 20-something year old who is never going to have children. idk how they work. so if anything is "wrong" here... file a complaint with the manager? i'm just here to have fun, fellas. this barely has a plot, maybe.
> 
> have fun, be gay, do crimes.

In terms of bad decisions, Cassie doesn’t think this is the worst one Zhane’s ever made. Which might say more about how she ranks Zhane’s decisions than anything else. But it’s probably Top Three material. Well… maybe second place. She’ll give it second.

Zhane’s second worst decision ever starts like this:

Cassie comes out of the recording studio for the day, checks her phone, and double takes upon realizing that she has twelve missed calls from Zhane in the past hour. She frowns at the screen as she begins to call him back. He knew that she was recording today until three. Usually he waits to call her until at least an hour after she’s done. Maybe he’s broken another television, she thinks idly as the phone begins to ring.  
He picks up after the first ring. “I didn’t know who else to call,” he says immediately.  
She frowns again as she fishes her keys out of her purse. Not a TV, then, since he would call Justin before her if that were the case. “What’s up?” she asks.  
“I just became the legal guardian of a newborn.”  
She had been walking toward her car in the parking lot, but this brings her up short. “Is this a joke, Zhane?”  
“No—shit—Cassie you have to believe me. There’s a baby sitting next to me in a carrier that looks like a weapon, and it’s asleep, but I think it might wake up soon, and I can’t call Ashley ‘cause she’ll yell at me, and I can’t call Andros ‘cause he’ll tell Ashley, and Carlos is out of town, and TJ will probably do that whole ‘I’m not mad; just disappointed’ thing, and I can’t call Justin because he’s Justin, so you have to help me, Cassie; I can’t raise a baby!”  
He’s panicking, she realizes. So this isn’t a joke.  
“Zhane, deep breaths. Has this newborn been to a hospital?”  
“Should it have been?”  
“Drive it to the nearest one, and when I get there you can explain this whole mess to me, and we’ll figure it out, okay?”  
She hears him suck in a breath on the other end of the time. “Okay, okay. Yeah, I’m—How fast can you be there?”  
“Probably not fast enough,” she mutters, sliding into her car.

She meets him in a waiting room. She expected to find him panicking up and down the room, but he’s sitting in a waiting chair with his chin propped in his hand. Other visitors are sitting across the room speaking in hushed tones. He doesn’t react to her arrival even when she takes a seat next to him.  
“What happened?” she asks gently.   
“They’re looking at her now,” he says, his voice strangely even. “I had to produce a lot of documents and sign a bunch of stuff, and I’m not really sure if I produced all the right things; I think they’re still gonna have to get the dad to sign some stuff, but they’re gonna go ahead, and do all that stuff you’re supposed to do with newborns, but I said I’d wait here for you while they—”  
“Zhane,” she interrupts gently. “I meant, what happened before you got here. How did you end up with a newborn?”  
He blows out air slowly and steadily.  
“I—I promised the mom.”  
Cassie blinks slowly at him. “Who is the baby’s mom?” And why did you promise that? hangs unsaid in the air.  
Zhane stuffs his hands in his pockets, avoiding her gaze. “She was one of the techs in that lab accident.”  
Oh.  
Well then.  
“So the baby’s a mutant, then,” Cassie says, trying to clamp down on her panic.  
“Probably, yeah.”  
“Zhane.” Her voice comes out more flat than she intends.   
“I know, Cassie,” he all but snaps back. “I know. But—” Zhane runs a hand through his disheveled hair, his eyes looking nearly wild. “She was already dying when she got pregnant. And the dad tapped out when he found out about the baby. Said he, quote, 'didn't need a freak for a kid'."  
Cassie reaches out to gently lay a hand on his arm, like you would for a spooked animal. “Zhane, I know you want to help people, but a baby?”  
He pulls his arm back, still avoiding her eyes. “You didn’t talk to her…When she found out that the baby would kill her, you didn’t see her.”  
Cassie bites her tongue, hard. Zhane looks small, suddenly, in the waiting room of a hospital, talking about a woman he probably barely knew and yet cared for deeply. Such is the way with Zhane.  
“Okay. Okay. When will they be done with the baby?” she asks finally, gesturing to the hospital staff running around.   
Relief pours into his eyes at her dropping the subject for the time being. “I’m not sure. The midwife for the delivery was an alien, so I don’t know how much of the…being born stuff…has already happened.”  
Cassie tries not to grin at his floundering. “Well, I’m sure the birth has been completed.” He cuts his eyes at her, but she sees the laugh lurking in them. “We’ll just wait for them to come tell us, yeah?” He nods slowly, still looking into the distance. She wonders how the hell she’s gonna talk him out of this.

The moment Cassie sees Elizabeth, she’s a goner.  
She never thought of herself as someone who wanted kids. Not the way many of her friends drooled over children. But Elizabeth… It’s love at first sight.  
Zhane finds out the baby’s name and gender after a while in the waiting room. A kind woman from the front desk returns the documents he brought from the midwife, which he had not bothered to read before shoving them in the direction of the hospital staff. The mother had apparently named her Elizabeth before labor. Cassie loves the name before she even meets the girl.  
And when she meets her…  
“She’s adorable; I’m sure we can find someone to adopt her.” Cassie’s voice sounds weak and flimsy in her own ears.  
Zhane has had a lot of time to cool down while waiting, but his mind has not changed. “But I promised, Cassie. I promised I’d look after her.”  
She looks at him, taking in the firmness of his gaze as he looks down at Elizabeth. “You’re really serious about raising this little girl?”  
His expression is tight and torn. Cassie has only seen him this serious once or twice before. “Yeah, yeah I am. But—” He makes a frustrated noise, running his fingers through his hair. “I’m never here; I’m always doing something off-planet, and I can’t take a baby into space with me.”  
Cassie shrugs. “Oh, I don’t know; you took Andros into space, once.”  
Zhane looks at her, clearly fighting off his amusement. “This is serious, Cassie.”  
“Of course it is,” she replies easily. “What if you got another ranger to adopt her or just…volunteer to take care of her when you’re away until she’s old enough to go with you?”  
He considers this. “Could we find someone willing to do this?”  
Cassie scoffs. “Hell yeah. Pinks are crazy about kids and persuasive as all get out. If things get tight, I’ll even sign up to be on the babysitting rotation. I’ll call Kim to get the gossip mill kicked off.”  
Zhane makes a face. “Does this mean Ashley’s gonna find out?”  
Cassie makes a sympathetic face. “Yeah, you’ll need the team for babysitting until you can figure this out. So Ashley’s gonna find out.” She claps a hand on his shoulder. “And may the Power protect you from that.”

Zhane’s off-planet so much that the team ends up babysitting her a lot. And, of course, whenever Ashley babysits, she’ll invite Tanya and Kat over, and sometimes it’s just easier to go to their houses where, inevitably, Kim or Trini will find a reason to come over. If Carlos ever babysits, he finds a reason to enlist Adam who will always bring along Tanya, and then people complain that Tanya gets to spend more time with Elizabeth than anyone else. Justin refuses to let anyone help when he babysits which becomes problematic because he knows how to take care of a baby in theory but not in practice, necessarily.  
Basically, there’s a whole ordeal.  
And, as per the ranger gossip mill, in the next month, pretty much every single ranger in existence comes through Zhane’s apartment to see and spend time with the “ranger baby,” as she’s being called now.  
“Her name is Elizabeth,” Zhane tells Zack impatiently when he calls her this.  
He grins down at the baby. “Oh? Well, hey, Z. Welcome to our family.”  
“She’s Zhane’s kid,” Jason points out from the other side of the crib.   
Zack shakes his head. “Nah. This little girl? She’s gonna be our kid. The rangers’ kid.”

Zack turns out to be right…eventually.  
But Zhane doesn’t officially declare his intent to make the schedule until every team has been by at least twice in the span of one month with increasingly flimsy excuses for being in Angel Grove. How Billy managed to find two different reasons to visit from Aquitar is beyond anyone. At least the Galaxy Rangers could use Karone as an excuse.  
After Zhane walks in one afternoon to find his apartment crowded with at least ten people, he throws up his hands. “I’m making a custody schedule,” he announces to no one in particular. “So everyone can spend time with her in fair doses in places that are not in my apartment.”  
It’s an offhand comment, but actually a good idea. At least that’s what Cassie decides.

~

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: karone@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Babysitting Z

Hey Cassie!  
I heard Zhane is making a babysitting schedule for Z. I’m not really sure what this is, but the Galaxy Rangers want in.  
Much love,  
Karone

To: karone@powerrangersmail.net  
From: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Babysitting Z

Karone,  
Babysitting schedule is so each interested party can spend a month with Z. We’re trying to wrangle it into months by team based on when teams are more available, but we’re leaving it up to each team to figure out which ranger she stays with, etc. Have any month requests? We’ll try to work it out so your month will fall after Billy’s or something so she can go from Aquitar to Mirinoi. Who knew Billy was so into kids? Anyway, hit me back.  
-Cassie

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: tinytricera@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Month Request—DT

Sounds like we’re all pretty solidly in agreement about July. Except for Dr. O, but he’ll get to see her more than once so we’re ignoring him. Thanks, Cass!

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: ???

why are you doing the schedule for me. i won’t be back for another week or two; why are you doing this now. why is everyone emailing you and not me. i want to request a month.

To: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
From: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: ???

Everyone knows I’m your better, more competent half. Or am I your better, more competent one-seventh? Since technically the whole team is your better half…  
Anyway, I knew you’d never actually make a schedule, but it was a good idea when you had it so I’m implementing it. I’m doing it before you get back so you can’t screw anything up, but I’ll let you approve the final draft.  
Don’t worry; I already put her down to be with us in October so you can take her trick-or-treating.  
And maybe if your email was normal people would email you.

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Re: ???

you know me so well. thanks for doing this i guess.  
and my email is awesome. put the lightspeed punk in september so he gets the shitty month when nothing happens.

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: hunter@powerrangersmail.net

Hey Cassie,  
This is Hunter Bradley, Crimson Ninja Storm ranger. We met once at a reunion and a couple of times recently when my team was up in Angel Grove visiting Z.  
I was wondering if it would be possible to include two months for our team: one where the Wind Ninjas could keep her and one where the Thunder Ninjas could keep her. Our academies are very far apart, and it is doubtful that we would be able to split her time equally during the month considering how busy we are.  
If this is not possible, we understand and will work it out.  
Thanks for your time,  
Hunter Bradley

(“I can’t believe you made me streak all the way over here just to watch me type a professional email,” Hunter grumbles from the computer at Ninja Ops.  
“Be glad I’m letting you touch the computer at all,” Cam shoots back, squinting at the screen.  
“You missed a comma,” Tori points out.  
“Do you want to type it?” he retorts, adding the comma nonetheless.   
“Do you think she’ll be into bikes?” Dustin comments idly from the other side of the room. Shane throws a pillow at him.)

To: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
From: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Approve?

Jan: Ninja Storm-Wind Academy  
Feb: Originals minus Billy and plus Aisha  
Mar: Ninja Storm-Thunder Academy  
Apr: Zeo  
May: Billy  
Jun: Lost Galaxy  
Jul: Dino Thunder  
Aug: Justin  
Sep: Lightspeed Rescue  
Oct: Astro  
Nov: Time Force  
Dec: Wild Force

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Approve?

why does ninja storm get two slots. greedy bastards; they already used all the colors in the goddamned world. what the fuck is the difference between maroon and crimson anyway. and their sixth was green which was just disgusting.

To: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
From: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Re: Approve?

How is it that you can appropriately use a semicolon and not how to hold the “shift” key to capitalize words?  
Ninja Storm has two academies spread out over several miles so they need two separate months. I have discussed this with them.  
Tommy was green when he was a sixth. And he was the first sixth so, really, you’re the disgusting one.  
Do you approve it or not?

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Approve?

tommy is disgusting and a pretender; i am the true original sixth ranger. tommy wasn’t really a Sixth so he doesn’t count. i’m changing my email to officialfirstsixthranger.  
approved i guess.

To: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
From: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Approve? 

I’m telling Tommy you said that. You’ve got to start being more mature if you’re going to be a father. 

To: cassie@powerrangersmail.net  
From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net  
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Approve?

no.

~

So that’s how it began. How it ends…  
Well.  
We’ll get there.


	2. 2006

“So are we supposed to…feed it?”

Aisha levels a glare that clearly reads  _ Shut up while I’m on the phone or I’ll judo flip you into next Tuesday _ at Rocky for the question even as she makes a hard left into their neighborhood. Kat turns around in the front seat to look at him, concerned, before nodding slowly to answer his question.

“Feels like common sense,” Adam mutters from the very back seat, safe from Aisha’s reach. Rocky aims a slap at him in her stead. “Ow! I meant, we  _ have _ been feeding her. Why are you asking now?”

“No I mean…  _ What _ are we supposed to feed her? Is she still on formula? Doesn’t the diet change every month?” He peers over the side of her car seat apprehensively. Z has her feet in her hands, gurgling happily as the car moves. Shockingly, nothing is in her mouth, but the damp appearance of her socks suggests that hasn’t been the case for long.

Aisha raises the tone of her phone call passive aggressively, but Rocky hasn’t been paying attention thus far, so he’s fine to keep tuning it out. Something about the stability of the Time Force morphers as SPD reverse engineers them? Whatever. Boring tech talk, as far as he’s concerned.

“I’m sure the girls have been tracking her diet. And probably Justin. They’ll make sure she’s eating right.” Adam says it with a compliment underlying, but both Kat and Aisha still shoot him a filthy look in the rearview mirror. Rocky slaps him again for good measure. “Ow! What! It’s true!”

Aisha ends her call and slams the breaks on as they pull into the driveway, making Adam and Rocky jolt against the seats in front of them. She turns around to face them, her eyes narrowed. “What have I said about talking while I’m on the phone?”

“Not to do it,” Adam mutters, rubbing his head where it hit Kat’s seat.

“Then why were you talking?”

Kat sighs as she unbuckles her seatbelt. “Because Z isn’t the only child we’re raising.”

“Please don’t ground us?” Rocky tries with a hesitant smile. Aisha just huffs as she gets out.

~

“Hey, Tanya, come check out the news!” Adam calls from the next room. Tanya sighs, briefly considering ignoring him in favor of actually finishing the salad she’s making. But if he’s watching the news, he’s not watching Z.

She leaves her salad and ventures into the living room. Z is, thankfully, sitting in her bouncy seat, gurgling happily. Adam’s hand is absently resting on it, but his attention is clearly on the screen. She resists the urge to sigh again and crosses the room to pick Z up, balancing the baby on her hip as she peers at the screen.

Adam glances up at her before looking at the screen again, not even noticing that she now has the baby. “New team got new rangers.”

The news outlet is looping footage from a fight in Briarwood earlier today. Tanya frowns at the screen. “New rangers? But they already have six.” The footage keeps playing, and suddenly, there’s a white ranger and a…

“Maroon?” she asks.

“I figured it was another crimson,” Adam supplies.

Tanya’s frown deepens, and she switches Z from one hip to the other. “Doesn’t that ranger look like the evil purple one?”

“I don’t think he was purple,” Adam argues.

Tanya rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” Z chooses this moment to start babbling and pulling on her hair, so Tanya takes her into the kitchen to feed her tiny bits of mushed apple while she mixes her salad.

“You’re right!” Adam calls suddenly. “It looks just like him! Do you think he’s a reformed ranger or an un-brainwashed one?”

“Text Tommy and ask! I’m sure he can start a club or something,” Tanya throws over her shoulder. Z hums like she agrees. “Good girl,” Tanya says softly, feeding her some of the apple mush with a smile.

~

To: jason@powerrangersmail.net

From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: (No subject)

tell the new team they’re not allowed to have more than six rangers it’s insulting to their Sixth

To: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net

From: jason@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Re: (No subject)

Zhane,

Why do you think I have this kind of authority? Also why can’t they have more than six rangers? Lost Galaxy has seven.

Jason

To: jason@powerrangersmail.net

From: silverisbetterthantitanium@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Re: Re: (No subject)

you’re the original red ranger you definitely have the authority to tell this new team that they’re breaking the rules

lost galaxy never had all seven serving at the same time. plus mike has debatable ranger status. tell these new losers to cut it out.

To: trini@powerrangersmail.net

From: kimberly@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: I’m Right

Hey Trini,

I know you’re outside of phone service right now, but I seriously need help settling a bet. Adam and I are arguing over whether the new Mystic Force Wolf Ranger (which is going to be SERIOUSLY confusing at future meet-ups… Poor Merrick!) is red or crimson. One of us claims that there can’t be two reds on the same team. The other one of us claims that we can’t let more rangers just call themselves whatever color they please. By the laws of the bet, I’m not allowed to tell you what side I’ve taken, but I know you will side with me. :)

Lots of Love!

Kim

To: kimberly@powerrangersmail.net

From: trini@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Re: I’m Right

Kim,

This is a complicated question because it necessitates a higher categorization. If we call him crimson, we will have to admit that crimson is a legitimate ranger color, something Rocky told me he’d rather die than admit. If we call him red, that would put two reds on the same team, which is just illogical. I think we should open this question up to larger discussion: should we force new rangers into the color barriers we have set up? Should we call Merrick silver, or even blue? Should we force Hunter and Blake to accept the labels of red and blue, respectively? Or should we adopt Zhane’s method of categorization, stating that categories are directly tied into ranking and personality? Meaning that there are two sixths who are green, but one is a Sixth and the other is a Green. I feel as if this may be an important question for the formation of SPD, and I am glad you and Adam have brought it to my attention.

I find myself more firmly on the traditional side, saying new rangers should conform to old color categorizations (this may just be my nostalgia), but I also agree with Zhane that they are more rank/personality based. I do not know if this supports your claim, but I hope it does.

Much love,

Trini

To: trini@powerrangersmail.net

From: kimberly@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Re: Re: I’m Right

Yay Trini! You supported me, mostly. Though, if we’re going to force weird ranger colors into normal ones based on personality, Hunter is not a Red. Blake might be a Blue, but Hunter is definitely a Pink. Kat and I talked about this a lot after we first met him. Just throwing that out there.

Kisses,

Kim

To: trini@powerrangersmail.net

From: thetinypterodactyl@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Colors?

Hey Trini!

Kim’s been talking to me about recoloring weird colored rangers? Specifically, about her “Hunter is Pink” theory, which I agree with, but I wanted to ask if the Yellows can claim Tori if the Blues get Blake. Because she’s totally a Yellow at heart and also in the interest of keeping paintball teams even. Or is Female Blue a totally different thing? Is Male Yellow a different thing? Just curious!

Thanks,

Kira

To: thetinypterodactyl@powerrangersmail.net

From: trini@powerrangersmail.net

Subject: Re: Colors?

Kira,

When Kim and I first discussed this, I had not even thought of the implications for the paintball teams. Yes, we must endeavor to keep them as even as possible in the interest of fairness for next year’s Great Paintball Fight.

I do not think we should sort colors into subsets based on gender. I think it is fine if we claim Tori for the Yellows. Dustin has always read as very Green to me; do you agree?

Well Wishes,

Trini


End file.
